In 2009, as a result of the global financial turmoil triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, 26 of the 27 EU countries slid into a recession. Poland was the only one to record positive gross domestic product (GDP) growth. Since the onset of the global crisis, six EU countries have applied for financial assistance from other member states and/or the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Poland was not one of them. Instead, it gained access to the IMF’s Flexible Credit Line, designed as a lending instrument for countries with very strong policy frameworks and track records in economic performance.
During the past decade, several European countries fell victim to severe boom-bust cycles, posing a threat to their financial stability. Meanwhile, Poland’s GDP grew continuously at a stable pace. There might have been a problem with excessive foreign exchange lending, as there was in many central and eastern European (CEE) countries at that time, but Polish regulators and supervisors reacted decisively to shield the economy against this threat. The case of Poland is certainly worth examining more closely as the country’s economic success can provide lessons for its peers.
